


Older brother acquired

by Ninjagokata



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Good Sibling Klaus Hargreeves, Good Sibling Number Five | The Boy, Good Sibling Vanya Hargreeves, Hurt Number Five | The Boy, Klaus Hargreeves Needs A Hug, No Incest, Number Five | The Boy Gets A Hug, Number Five | The Boy Has Issues, Number Five | The Boy Needs A Hug, Number Five | The Boy Whump, Number Five | The Boy-centric, Protective Number Five | The Boy, Sibling Bonding, Swearing, Time Travel, Trauma, Vanya Hargreeves Gets a Hug, Vanya Hargreeves Needs A Hug, probably watch the show first before reading this
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-23
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:28:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27675367
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ninjagokata/pseuds/Ninjagokata
Summary: Time seemed to stop.Because- Because that was her brother. That was-“Five?”She couldn’t recognize him before, but now there was no mistaking it, the thick eyebrows, the piercing green eyes, his dimples and- god, he looked likea mess. He looked like he wanted tocryjust at the sight of them, but that couldn’t be right, because Fivenevercried.Or- Five comes back to his thirteen-year-old siblings, after being three years in the apocalypse (without interfering with the commision) and immediately becomes an over-protective older brother.
Relationships: Dolores & Number Five | The Boy (Umbrella Academy), Number Five | The Boy & Ben Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves & Vanya Hargreeves, Number Five | The Boy & Klaus Hargreeves, Number Five | The Boy & The Hargreeves (Umbrella Academy), Number Five | The Boy & Vanya Hargreeves, Number Five | The Boy (Umbrella Academy) & Everyone
Comments: 179
Kudos: 768





	1. we only talk when someone goes missing

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own The Umbrella Academy...just if you didn't know...  
> Also, this is my first TUA fic, so hopefully no one is too ooc!  
> Check end notes to know where to find me on social media!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _“Sometimes loneliness makes the loudest noise.”_  
>  ― Aaron Ben-Ze'ev
> 
>   
> **Or- The missing brother appears out of the blue _(haha get it like his portals-)_ and everyone just gets genuinely confused about everything.**

The numbers were blurring together, then they doubled, then blurred again- _Shit_ , the headache was getting worse.

The quiet sounds of a bug skittering behind him mocked him, as he tried once more to focus on the numbers in front of him.

A sudden jolt of pain spiked from his abdomen and traveled through his whole body, forcing him to double over in his already seated position.

He pressed his palm against the wound and winced when it came away coated in crimson.

He didn’t have _time_. His medical supplies had run out. He had planned to go look for more today, but then a fucking _pebble_ got in the way of his foot and he tripped onto a _conveniently_ placed piece of rebar.

 _He was going to die._ The thought sounded panicked in his own head. He didn’t have any supplies, he was bleeding out, he was away from his bunker- _It’s a library, it shouldn’t be called a bunker._ Dolores pointed out one time. Except the memory made his predicament even _worse_ , because he was away from _Dolores_.

He was going to die out here, and she would wonder _why he hasn’t come back yet_ -

His thoughts came to an abrupt stop when his consciousness threw him back into reality.

The pages of his sister’s book were awfully close to getting ripped out with his frantic turning and checking and then turning _again_ -

He was close to figuring it out. He _knew_ he was. Three years of non-stop calculating and surviving got him _this_ close. But the formula wasn’t perfect, which could lead to disastrous results. He could be sent to the wrong time, his body could be ripped apart by the jump, he could _die._ The possibilities of it going wrong were endless.

But he didn’t care. It would be one hell of a desperation move, but he wasn’t just going to give up on the world like that. He wasn’t going to give up on his _family_ like that.

If he stayed, he would still die, except this time with the horrible feeling of guilt going up his dry throat.

So, he checked the numbers one more time, trying to clear the haze from his mind.

And he _pulled_.

* * *

It had been two weeks since Five ran away.

At first, she had been the only one of the siblings to worry. Then, after the first seven days, everyone was sneaking anxious and confused glances at each other, seemingly realizing this probably wasn’t one of Five’s usual rebellious acts.

On day eight, a few of them snuck out of the mansion to try to look for their brother. That kind of routine continued for the rest of the week, sometimes with more of them, sometimes less.

That was, until today.

Today was Saturday, just after noon. It was their free time and the children had made an excuse, that _they simply wanted to go out_. Which they _would_ , except they would be looking for Five in the meantime.

But their mother didn’t allow it. Well, more like _Reginald_ didn’t allow it, but sent her to make it more convincing. After all, none of them really wanted to disobey Grace.

“It’s going to rain soon. I don’t want any of you getting ill from the cold.” Her kind smile was enough to make them comply.

It didn’t stop them from sulking about it though. That’s why they were currently sitting in a circle in Number One’s room.

Vanya doesn’t think she ever got a proper look at his room before. It was _huge_ , compared to hers. There were little models of rockets and planes and a very few posters about space. It was pretty. She couldn’t stop comparing it to her own room. Her room felt so _~~ordinary~~ plain_, compared to his.

“I mean, what if someone kidnapped him?” Number Two’s voice tugged her back from her thoughts.

“Diego-“

Klaus’ attempt to calm down his stressed brother got cut off, before it even had the chance to start.

“We wouldn’t even have a _fucking clue_ on where could be!”

Luther shot a look Diego’s way. “Diego, calm down! Panicking isn’t helping anyone.”

Diego was visibly getting more riled up by the second.

“Both of you calm down.” Allison, thinking she could defuse the oncoming argument, spoke up.

If looks could kill, Number One and Three would already be the victims of Number Two’s murderous glare.

Vanya’s eyes drifted over to look at Klaus when she heard a dry chuckle leave his lips. “And we can’t even go out.”

“Hey, dad is leaving for some meeting tomorrow, remember? We can continue looking then.” Ben offered.

“We don’t really know where to look though, Benny boy.”

Diego looked directly at Luther and frantically motioned towards Number Four.

Luther sighed heavily, placing down a map of the city in the middle of them.

“Look, we could start at-“

Out of nowhere, there was a flash through the windows, as a lightning struck, followed by the loud _boom_ of a thunder.

Nothing much about that would be unusual-- if it weren’t for one of Diego’s knives to suddenly shoot right past Vanya’s head and into the wall behind her.

“What the hell, Diego-“ Allison glared at her dumbstruck brother.

“Hey! That wasn’t me-“

A series of more lighting flashes and thunder began echoing through the mansion and lighting up the place at the same time.

Luther got up and ran out of his room, quickly followed by everyone else.

All of them ran through the academy halls (some more clumsily than others), heading for the courtyard, where the sounds and flashes seemed to be most active.

They didn’t know, what to expect, but it sure as hell wasn’t this.

Some sort of blue vortex floated right in the middle of the courtyard. Their father, their mother and Pogo were all already there.

Of course, Number One was the first to speak up. “Dad, what’s going on?”

They all hesitantly approached the trio.

“Stand back, all of you.” Reginald didn’t sound concerned, no, he sounded _calm_.

Vanya looked at the vortex with strange curiosity. If she tried hard enough, she could see some weird location swirling inside. But staring at it was starting to make her dizzy, so she looked away.

She instead looked around her to try and catch one of her siblings’ expressions, but when she looked back at the blue anomaly, something fell out of it with a painful _thud_. A second later, the vortex vanished into thin air, leaving a metallic smell of electricity behind.

The some _thing_ soon turned out to be a some _one_. The figure was curled up in a fetal position on the ground, their whole body shaking. They were wheezing as if they couldn’t breathe. Vanya couldn’t help but feel sorry for the individual.

She noticed Luther looking up at Reginald for some reason, their father giving him a firm nod in response.

Reginald really seemed _way_ too calm for a situation like this-

“Who are you?”

The sound of the person’s wheezing breaths came to an abrupt stop. Their whole body tensed, stopping the shaking as well. Then all of the sudden, they stumbled up onto their feet, making all of the Umbrella Academy members get into a defensive position.

Now, that the figure was standing, Vanya noticed their incredibly odd appearance. They were basically a bundle of mismatched clothes. A jacket with a bulky vest on top of it, a pilot hat along with the goggles, which were currently covering their eyes and a rag covering the rest of their face, making them completely unrecognizable. There was also something slung over their torso, but Vanya didn’t exactly know what the object was. The strangest thing was, all of their accessories were covered in a layer of grime and dust.

She has been inspecting them for a while now, yet they hadn’t moved an inch from their position. It almost looked like they weren’t even breathing, too busy staring at all of the Hargreeves (At least that’s what Vanya _thought_. She couldn’t really tell through the person’s goggles.)

“ _Who are you?_ ” Luther repeated his previous question, this time more forcefully.

 _That_ seemed to break their trance. Vanya faintly heard them take a quick shuddered breath as they lowered their head and basically ripped off the goggles from their eyes with shaking hands. Their head shot back up to look at each of her siblings. Her brown eyes met the oddly familiar green ones. The person slowly pulled the rag covering their face to rest around their neck and-

Time seemed to stop.

Because- Because that was her brother. That was-

“ _Five?_ ” Her own voice sounded so far away.

She couldn’t recognize him before, but now there was no mistaking it, the thick eyebrows, the piercing green eyes, his dimples and- god, he looked like _a mess_. He looked like he wanted to _cry_ just at the sight of them, but that couldn’t be right, because Five _never_ cried.

Her father’s protest of _“Number Seven!”_ was ignored as she lunged forward to hold her brother in a tight embrace. She heard Five let out a shaky breath and felt his arms be hesitantly placed upon her back.

As if a switch had been flipped, he hugged her back with what could only be described as pure desperation, and just about _melted_ into the embrace.

“Vanya” Her brother sounded choked up, his voice raspy.

Vanya felt like she wanted to cry. And she would have, if she didn't get so surprised by Five suddenly leaning all of his weight on her. ( _He was too light_ , she briefly noticed, not easing her growing concern by the slightest.)

“Five?” She lightly tapped his shoulder, “Five!”

Thankfully, one of her siblings seemed to finally come out of their shocked state and ran over to her. “What going on?” Klaus hurriedly asked, already trying to support some of their brother’s weight.

“I-I don’t know! He just collapsed!” she stuttered over her words.

Throughout the whole reunion, Reginald had been quiet. “Get him to the infirmary.”

“Yes, sir.” Grace looked at Luther with a motherly smile. “Luther dear, could you please help me with your brother?”

“Okay, mom.” As Luther moved towards the trio, Vanya carefully adjusted her hold on Five to give his strongest brother a better access. But as she was steadying her unconscious brother, her hand brushed over his abdomen and to her horror, came away smeared with blood.

“Oh g-god! He-He’s _bleeding_!”

Upon hearing her shriek, Luther hurried his pace and quickly, but carefully pulled Five away from her and Klaus’ grasp. He immediately carried him out of the courtyard, followed by their mother and Reginald, leaving the six individuals to think about the events that have just transpired.

**The sky began to cry.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well! That was the first chapter!  
>  _In the scene, where Vanya recognizes Five, the others also have their own reacions, but it was Vanya's POV and she didn't focus on anything but her brother at the moment. So ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯. Who knows, maybe we'll get to know, what their reactions were in one of the other chapters. Wait- I'm supposed to know that-_  
>  Tell me your thoughts in the comments, I would love to hear them!  
> And until the next chapter, farewell!


	2. some eyes open, only to go blind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **A nightmare, a reunion and a lot of questions.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh by the way, Five has long hair! Like almost mid-back kind of long. Guess three years without cutting it will do that to you.  
> Just thought you should know!

The fires decided to start burning again. The old ash on the ground getting covered in a layer of new one. Five coughed into his arm as he pushed through the thick fog of smoke.

No one in their right mind would go through there, that would be just asking for a lung failure. But Dolores was somewhere amidst that chaos. Which was really the only reason, why he was coming straight towards it.

A rather painful coughing fit suddenly overtook him, forcing him to come to a halt. When it finally stopped, he automatically reached up to adjust the rag he wore around his mouth and nose.

His hand found nothing, only his own bare face. Looking at himself in something between urgency and confusion, he discovered, that his usual clothes were gone. Instead, they were replaced with something he hasn’t seen in years.

His old academy uniform.

Numerous different thoughts raced through his mind, silencing the strong feeling of nostalgia. _How did it get here? Why was he wearing it? Where did his previous clothes go? Does he still have the-_

Five began furiously patting himself in search of something. _The eye. Where was the goddamn eye?!_

The sound of rubble shifting somewhere in front of him instantly broke his search. His head snapped up, only to stumble backwards at what he saw. The smoke had miraculously cleared, but he suddenly found himself wishing it didn’t.

The scene ahead of him was the exact same as it were on that fateful day. The day he wished so dearly to forget.

The bodies of his siblings laid underneath the rubble, wearing their cold, dead expressions.

More rubble shifted, taking his gaze away from the corpses. There, on top of the rubble, stood the two bodies he never found. _Ben and Vanya._ They looked the same as the day he left.

Vanya beat him to it, before he could even say anything.

“Why did you leave?”

Five knew this was a hallucination. He _did_. But seeing his _~~alive~~_ sister after all this time made him falter.

“Vanya-” He coughed, trying to clear his raspy voice, “I-“

 _“Why did you leave?”_ Ben repeated his sister’s question more firmly. His face was blank, but his eyes held pure resentment.

“I-“ Five tried again, “I’m sorry- I was- I didn’t know-”

“Didn’t know what, Five?” Vanya’s sad tone was even more hurtful than Ben’s anger. “It was your choice to leave.”

“People _died_ because of you, Five.” His brother continued, “ _I_ died because of you.”

“You let the world burn, Five.” His own name was starting to sound like an insult.

“No- I didn’t mean-“ Five took a few steps back, shutting his eyes and shaking his head furiously. “You’re not real- You’re not here-“

All of a sudden, his foot collided with something. He whipped around, his eyes flying open.

Dolores sat neatly on the ground, her face vacant of emotion. Five’s knees buckled as he desperately held her close to himself. “ _Dolores_ \- Oh thank god- You’re okay. _You’re okay_.”

Dolores didn’t respond. He leaned away and looked at her quizzically. “Dolores?” Her expression remained emotionless.

Without warning, earsplitting wails of anguish tore the silence. Five froze. He didn’t turn around, yet somehow, he _knew_ the sounds were coming from his siblings.

_“-ive?”_

He screwed his eyes shut and held onto Dolores in search of comfort.

_“Five?”_

The overlapping screams were becoming increasingly overwhelming.

_“Five!”_

_Fuck-_ They were so _loud_.

_“Five! Wake-“_

He couldn’t take it anymore. He couldn’t take it- He _couldn’t-_

* * *

“-up!

Bright light blinded him, as he sat up with a strangled gasp.

Almost immediately, his side protested painfully against the movement, making him clench his teeth and curl up around his abdomen. With his eyes squeezed shut in pain, he failed to notice the movement going on around him.

“Five?”

Suddenly reminded of his nightmare, Five’s eyes shot back open, his head snapped towards the voice.

He knew his eyes haven’t properly adjusted to the brightness yet when he only saw a small, hesitant silhouette sitting by his side. Despite his eyes failing to see her facial features, that was undoubtedly his sister’s voice. That was _Vanya’s_ voice. The thought hit him like a truck as his eyes _finally_ adjusted and he could see properly.

Completely discarding the thought of his nightmare, he stared at his sister in disbelief. She stared right back, an expression of surprise and worry stuck on her face.

“Five? Are you okay?”

The only response she got was a heavy exhale. Some of Five’s hair fell in front of his eyes as he eased his rigid body.

If he was being honest with himself, he had absolutely no idea, what was happening. _Was he still dreaming?_ He faintly heard someone walking behind him, but he didn’t really pay much attention to it.

Vanya shifted under his gaze, looking away. She was visibly getting more nervous. Five missed her _so much_.

She glanced towards the door and Five followed her gaze. He squinted at the door, trying to remember why it seemed so familiar. _Oh, he was in the infirmary_.

Someone walked into his line of vision, right behind his sister. He glanced up and if he had any water in him, he was sure he would tear up. It was _mom_. He hadn’t thought about Grace much during the apocalypse, but seeing her in front of him like this made him realized just how much he missed her.

She smiled at him gently. “Hello, Five, sweetie.”

“Hi, mom.” He whispered, feeling himself getting more choked up.

“Is it alright, if I touch you?”

Five nodded and numbly watched as she adjusted the IV in his arm. _Huh, he didn’t notice that was there before._ When she was done, she gave him a soft kiss on the forehead and tucked his fallen hair behind his ear.

She leaned away and he realized just how _overwhelming_ the touch had been.

Suddenly, as if he had been slapped, the situation hit him. “What day is it?” His frantic voice was barely above a whisper.

“It’s only been two weeks, dear.” Grace smiled, “Although, I do wonder how your hair could have grown so much in so little time.” Her smile drifted into a thoughtful expression. Five swallowed painfully.

 _It’s only been two weeks._ The phrase kept repeating itself over and over in his mind.

_It was more than three years for him._

The apocalypse happened in 2019 and now he was apparently in 2002 again. Which _should_ give him enough time to figure out, how it happens.

_Unless he fucks something up and ends the world even sooner._

His body loosened up again with a heavy sigh. He stayed quiet for a minute, watching Vanya fidget out of the corner of his eye and cleared his throat. “Where are the others..?” He cringed internally, his voice sounded raspy.

His sister handed him a cup of water, telling him to drink slowly. Five’s eyes widened as he stared in awe at the incredibly _clean_ water. He didn’t have that kind of luxury in a long time.

Drinking it felt like heaven.

“Your siblings are currently waiting in the living room.” His mother informed him, “They are very worried.”

Vanya took the cup from him, once he was done and glanced at the door again. “I should probably go tell them you’re awake.”

His world seemed to slow down as he watched her get up and start to leave.

“Wait.” He grabbed her hand, “Please, don’t go.” His voice cracked at the last word, but _screw_ his ego right now, because if his sister left his sight, then she could _die. She would die and he wouldn’t even know it._

Vanya, his so wonderfully _alive_ sister locked her eyes with his for a second and then looked at Grace.

“Mom, could you please go get the others?”

“Of course, dear.” Grace gave them an understanding smile and left the room.

Vanya sat back down in her chair and looked at Five, seemingly lost in thought.

Five took the time to inspect himself. His chest was bare, only his old, unbuttoned shirt hanging off him. There was a medical bandage neatly placed on the wound in his abdomen, the skin around it cleaned up. His forearms were also uncovered, all his scratches and scars out for the whole world to see. (But seeing as the shirt didn’t have long sleeves, that was no surprise.) Some of the newer ones were surprisingly patched up as well. He noticed his boots were missing, but otherwise everything seemed to be like before. The last thing was the IV sticking out of his right arm.

He couldn’t help but feel extremely vulnerable.

“You called my name.”

“Huh?” He looked at his quiet sister, getting caught off guard.

“While you were dreaming. Mom said you called my name.” She paused, “That’s why I was allowed to be in here with you.”

“Oh.”

As a few seconds of silence went by, Vanya opened her mouth and closed it. She finally looked into Five’s eyes with a pitying expression and took a quiet breath.

“Five, what happe-“

They both yelped as the door to the infirmary flew open, five figures rushing into the room, swiftly followed by their mother.

Immediately after spotting Five, who very much looked like a deer caught in the headlights, they all rushed to his cot, spewing questions left and right.

_“Where did you go?”_

_“Are you okay?”_

_“What’s up with the long hair?”_

_“And can I have it too?”_

Vanya must have noticed Five’s inability to comprehend even one of those sentences, as she tried to calm their siblings down, only to be ignored.

“Now, now, children. One at a time, you don’t want to overwhelm your brother.” Grace, the natural peacekeeper, quieted them all down.

Luther spoke up first. “Five, it’s been two weeks. Where were you?”

Five stared at his brother, trying not to imagine the dead body engraved into his memory.

_An apocalyptic wasteland. The end of everything._

**“The future.”**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the cliffhanger! I couldn't help myself.  
> Don't worry though! We'll finally get more of the other siblings next chapter!  
> Hope you enjoyed!


	3. rumors can't reveal everything

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Questions are answered, unwanted memories resurface and Five is tired.**

“The future.”

Whatever question was supposed to be asked next died along with the mood.

“ _What_?” Allison was the first to break the silence.

“You’re kidding.” Diego was the second.

_Oh he did_ not _mean to be that bold. Fuck._

The six siblings stared at him expectantly, impatiently waiting for him to say something.

_Well, the cat’s out the bag. He might as well try to cover the brutal truth_ somehow _._

“I’m really not. When I ran out two weeks ago, I time traveled. Then I spent some time in the future, time-traveled back and well,” A dry chuckle left his lips, “here I am.”

Klaus not-so-subtly leaned into Diego’s space and whispered, “You owe me ten bucks.”

“And _why_ do I owe you ten bucks again?” Diego scowled.

“We had that bet, remember? The one where we tried to guess what happened to Five? The one where I said time-travel _and was totally right_?”

“That wasn’t a bet, you-“ Diego whispered back, voice rising with every word.

Ben suddenly spoke up, interrupting the oncoming argument. “Wait, _spent some time in the future_?”

Five looked up at him, his eyebrows raised in surprise.

_Ben_

_His brother was still alive._

_That’s right, his brother doesn’t die for another three years._

_And he_ won’t _die._

_Not this time._

_Five won’t let that happen. No matter, what it takes._

He pulled himself back from his thoughts, remembering his brother’s question. Frustration seeped into his features, not aimed at anyone in the room. _Only at himself._

“Yeah. Jumping forwards in time might be easy, jumping _backwards_ however,” He huffed, “not as much.”

He averted his intense gaze from Ben, face scrunching up in a sneer. “Should’ve listened to the old man.” His expression softened as he muttered to himself, “I went into the freezing water and never managed to get out.”

He could still remember his father’s exact words as if it were just yesterday. _In a way, it was. Just two weeks ago._

_“A special jump is trivial when compared with the unknowns of time travel.”_

_“One is like sliding along the ice, the other is akin to descending blindly into the depths the of freezing water and reappearing as an acorn.”_

At the time, his father’s dismissal was _infuriating_. And it still kind of was, except now it has mixed with the _unbearable_ humiliation of proving him right.

All six of the siblings exchanged various looks of surprise. Allison whispering “Well that’s a first.”

“Where _is_ he anyway?” Five looked directly at Luther, “Would’ve thought, he’d be lecturing me about my failures by now.”

But before Number One could get a word in, Grace spoke up.

“Your father had to leave for an important meeting this morning.”

Luther closed his mouth again, a frown settling on his face.

Five scoffed, “Right, of course he doesn’t give a shit.”

Except Five knew better than to blindly trust a hope like that. His father would play his cards dirty, _as always_. Pretending not to care, but subtly trying to get information out of them with his _dumb_ mind-games. _Well, he can try all he wants, Five won’t talk._

“Language.” Grace scolded.

“Sorry.”

Everyone had so many questions before, and yet no one decided to break the tense silence, that fell over the room.

Except for Five’s stomach. Which apparently decided that _now_ it would be a good opportunity to rumble. _Loudly_.

“You all must be hungry. I’ll go make something to eat.” Their mother cheerily offered, either not noticing or entirely ignoring the atmosphere.

Five looked thoughtful for a moment and then turned to give Grace a strained smile. “That would be great, thanks.”

Grace nodded with a motherly smile and swiftly left the room.

He watched her leave, facing his siblings afterwards. “So, any _more_ questions?”

Everyone zoned out for a second, thinking back to their questions. Finally, Number Two folded his arms and raised an eyebrow, “Why do you look so-“

“ _-old_?” Klaus interrupted.

Diego shot him a quick glare and looked back to his injured brother.

Five scratched his neck as he grimaced, “Yeah, about that,” the grimace turned into a mischievous smirk, “I’m the oldest now.”

His younger siblings gawked at him a second time that day, before everyone started talking over each other.

_“What-“_

_“Dude!”_

_“No way-“_

_“As if we’re gonna believe-“_

Surprisingly, Vanya’s voice quieted everyone down. “Then, how old _are_ you?”

Five’s smirk turned into a grin with his next words. “Sixteen, give or take.”

_He couldn’t help it, their reactions were priceless._

Klaus’ mouth fell open. Diego’s disbelieving tone piercing through the re-occurring silence. “Wait, so you’re telling me, you were in the _future_ for _three years_?”

“Three years and two months, again, give or take.”

“And why exactly should we believe you?” Luther asked, crossing his arms.

“Why _shouldn’t_ you?” Five shot back.

Number One sputtered, looking to Number Three for help.

Five’s eyes widened as he realized what was happening a second too late.

_“I heard a rumor… you couldn’t lie to us.”_

His eyes turned a milky color, before going back to their usual green. He threw his hands in the air, frustration seeping once again into his features.

“ _God fucking-_ I’m not lying!”

Luther locked eyes with Allison again, the two of them having a silent conversation. Eventually, she shrugged in response. “I mean, it _can’t_ be a lie.”

At that very moment, everyone’s expressions changed, because _Five has been telling the truth_.

Ben, Allison and Klaus’ into ones of excitement and Vanya’s into one of confusion with a hint of concern. Luther and Diego just seemed baffled, exchanging glances with each other.

Five sighed, running a hand down his face. _Realizing no one believed him until just now shouldn’t hurt as much as it did._

“How far into the future did you go?” Luther asked.

“Seventeen years or so.” Five shrugged.

Suddenly, Klaus ran over to his side, almost making Vanya fall out of her chair in the process.

“Were we in the future too?! Was I handsome and cool? I mean, not that I’m not already but-“

_Klaus’ lifeless body laid sprawled out on top of the rubble. His brother’s eyes, that used to be so energetic and full of life, were now dull and lacking their usually piercing hazel color, his empty gaze pointed at the ground. Larger pieces of rubble covered his legs, likely trapping him before he could try to escape. His arm was outstretched just enough to show his umbrella tattoo. Just enough to show the undeniable truth._

_Five wanted to scream._

As he listened to his rambling brother a wet chuckle left Five’s lips, “I missed you” he quietly admitted, immediately silencing said brother.

Klaus and Vanya’s eyes widened, being the only ones to hear it. Vanya curled in on herself while Klaus gaped, both unsure what to say.

“ _So…_ that’s a no?” Number Four awkwardly asked.

Five breathed out. “No, you-“ _Don’t imagine the corpses. Not now._ “You _were_ in the future. You just didn’t know about me.”

A pause.

“At all.” He added.

Klaus let out a delighted gasp, “Okay, but I was like _so_ cool, right?”

“Yeah,” Five gave his excited brother a forced smile, “you were.”

Honestly, Five didn’t actually know if the older Klaus was cool, but Allison’s rumor was still working, so he had to choose his words carefully. What he _did_ know however, was that older Klaus was cool temperature-wise. _His cold, dead body-_

Five forced the thought away.

Vanya sat up a bit straighter, pure curiosity shining through her dark eyes, “Were all of us there?”

At some point, the other siblings ceased their quiet mumbles between each other and started intently listening to the questioning.

Five thought about his answer for a moment, “No,” he eventually said, “not all of you.”

He was trying to be as vague as possible, but the rumor was starting to make the simple task difficult.

Diego came forwards, surprisingly invested in the conversation. “Who wasn’t there?”

Five hesitated. _Should he tell them?_ He let out a defeated sigh. “Ben and Vanya.”

Said siblings glanced at each other, worry and fear coating their features.

A strange surge of protectiveness suddenly hit Five, almost taking his breath away.

“I- Hey, look, that doesn’t have to mean anything _bad_. I just didn’t find you, that’s all.”

_Where was this reassuring talk coming from?_

An awkward, yet somber silence swallowed the room.

Klaus was starting to get sick of the constant quiet.

“Anywho, you also came looking like a homeless person when you fell from the sky an’ all. Why’s that?” He leaned on the cot, making Five uncomfortable at the intrusion of his personal space.

Five gave him a visibly fake smile. “Let’s just say, the future wasn’t so kind to me.” _Or at all, for that matter._

Before anything could escalate further from that answer, Grace walked in, her usual smile in place. “Lunch is ready.” She looked at Five, “Would you like me to bring it for you, dear?”

“Thanks, but no. I want to eat in the kitchen,” Five paused, “if that’s okay.”

“You shouldn’t aggravate the wound too much, but I suppose it will be alright, if one of your siblings helped you.”

Vanya’s mumbled “I could.” came at the same time as Klaus’ chirpy “Sure thing!” and Ben’s “Can it be me?”

Vanya shrunk even further in her seat. Five subtly put his hand on hers and comfortingly whispered, “Hey, you’re coming too. I would probably go insane with those two together.” Her eyes lit up and she stifled a giggle.

Grace came over to them and carefully pulled out Five’s IV, placing a band aid over the small cut.

“I will be in the kitchen, if anyone needs me.” And with one last smile, she gracefully walked out of the room, Diego hesitantly following behind.

He turned to face them at the door, shifting from one foot to the other. “Uh, yell if something happens, I guess.”

He turned back around and sprinted to catch up with their mother.

Five pushed himself off the cot, wincing at the strain of his injury. He could see Vanya holding out her hands, probably wanting to help, but not knowing how.

He stood up and his vision tilted slightly as he stumbled. Klaus caught him, Ben soon running over and helping to support his weight.

“Okay, up you go!” Klaus let out a nervous laugh.

As his two brothers steadily helped him out of the room, he could see Vanya hovering nearby, anxious because of his previous stumble. He flashed her a reassuring smile and her posture relaxed slightly.

The four of them left the room and the effects of the rumor slowly left his body.

**This was going to be a _long_ day.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The story will probably be mostly from Five's pov like in this chapter, but for some chapters I might shake things up a bit and give the pov to someone else!  
> I LOVE the headcanon, that Vanya, Ben AND Klaus were Five's closest siblings back in the day.  
> Also my own personal hc, Ben and Klaus can be VERY chaotic together. (I mean Five and Klaus take the cake for the most chaotic duo, but you know-)  
> Anyway, sorry for the wait y'all! I was like REALLY busy these past weeks.  
> Hope you enjoyed!!


	4. the four musketeers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Five thinks about the things he missed.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for the slight wait! My excuse is: The Hargreeves mansion is a _NIGHTMARE_. Its layout, that is. I still have _no_ idea, where the infirmary actually is, so I decided it's on one of the lower floors.  
> Anyway, it's a longer one this time! Hope you enjoy!

Walking through the corridors of the mansion felt like a dream.

Back in the apocalypse, in times when dreams weren’t nightmares, he dreamt of getting back home. Of seeing his siblings. In those dreams, the sight of the academy always filled him with intense relief, even though the dreams never let him explore the house that much.

But that was the exact reason why his eyes were currently skimming over every little object in the hallway. Every hung-up picture, every little crack in the wall, everything his dreams didn’t let him see.

His open shirt lazily brushed on his exposed abdomen, reminding him of his current clothes situation.

“Wait.” He blurted out. His three siblings stopped, looking at him with puzzled stares. “I need to go to my room first. I want to get changed.”

“But your room is on the top floor!” Klaus whined dramatically, “So _many_ stairs!”

Ben elbowed his whining brother in the side and gave Five a kind smile. “Sure, we don’t mind.”

Klaus gasped, his free arm moving to cover his side. “Your sharp elbows wound me, Benjamin! Such betrayal!”

Ben blew a raspberry at him.

“But your… _other_ clothes are back in the infirmary.” Vanya piped up.

“Right,” Oh it would have been _bad_ if he forgot about those. There was some really important stuff in there. “Could you bring those to my room?”

Vanya perked up, happy to be able to help, and nodded. “Okay.” She ran off back in the direction of the infirmary.

The boys started making their way up the stairs and Klaus whined with the first few steps. But Five paid it no mind as his eyes wondered all around the environment, nostalgia hitting him _hard_. Nothing was out of place. As if he never left.

He looked at one of the brothers next to him. Number Four, Klaus, the chaotic sibling, was still mumbling grumpily about having to go up the stairs, but the relief in his eyes told a whole different story. Those big hazel eyes, so full of life and wonder, just like he remembered.

“Don’t trip, Klaus.”

Five turned to Ben, who was watching Klaus’ feet intently, alert for any sign of his brother stumbling.

And _Ben_ , Number Six, his favorite brother, was so wonderfully _alive_. Ben, who died _way too fucking_ _early_ at the age of sixteen. Number Six, who had an ancient beast inside him, and yet still managed to be the kindest among them all. Ben’s dark brown eyes met his and suddenly, Five felt the all-too-familiar pressure of emotions crawling up his throat. He closed his eyes and swallowed them back down.

He looked away from his brother’s curious eyes. They were almost by his room, in fact, they were already coming up the last staircase. He must have lost track of time. And it felt _wrong_. He shouldn’t be losing track of time. He _couldn’t_. He was the one who ripped the seams of time itself apart to travel to the future and back! The one, who’s currently changing the goddamn timeline! So, he couldn’t _afford to_ -

During his mental rant he mildly stopped paying attention to the world around him and lifted his foot just _slightly_ too early. And ironically, he tripped. Over the last step none the less.

He and his brothers were sent stumbling with the shock of none of them expecting it. Thankfully, they caught themselves right before the stumble could spiral into a fall. Or rather, Klaus and Ben caught _Five_ , much to his humiliation.

“Whoa! Easy there, bud!” Klaus laughed as he steadied himself and turned to Ben, “And you told _me_ not to trip.”

“Sorry.” Five mumbled under his breath and winced. His injury started to ache again with the strain of his body tensing up. Ben, being observant as ever, noticed his wince

“You okay?”

“Just _peachy_.” Five slowly began to steady himself and letting go of his two brothers. “You can let go now, I’m okay from here.” Ben looked at him with slight doubt in his eyes. “Are you sure?”

“ _Yes._ ”

Ben nodded and began to let go, but Klaus tightened his hold instead.

“And let you fall again? Nope.”

Five’s head snapped towards his brother, an infuriated sneer on his lips.

“Klaus, _let go of me_.” He bit out.

He knew he shouldn’t be angry at his brother; he was just worried for his safety after all, but as much as he appreciated it, all of the touching was becoming increasingly more overwhelming. His skin felt like it was on fire yet freezing at the same time. It didn’t feel _right_. None of it. _Guess three years of isolation will do that to you._

His lanky brother looked in his eyes and must’ve seen _something_ , because as soon as he did, his eyes widened, and he reluctantly let go of Five. He gave Klaus a nod of gratitude and slowly made his way to his bedroom door. The green door blended with the walls, only the light of day illuminating it from the large window behind him.

He took a hold of the doorknob and _turned_ , pushing the door open. And dear _god_ , did he miss his room. There wasn’t an object out of place and not even dust got the chance to settle. It was just as he left it. A strange yet awfully familiar feeling of safety enveloped him as he stepped further into the bedroom. He turned and looked back at his brothers outside the doorway.

They were both smiling. “We’ll wait for you here, okay?” Ben pointed his thumb behind him, back in the direction of the staircase. Five nodded, too taken back by his room to give a coherent response. “Don’t take _too_ long!” Klaus joked. Ben reached for the doorknob and began to slowly close the door. Five turned back away from his brothers but halted when Ben spoke again. “Oh, and Five?” He glanced at brother. Ben gave him a wide genuine smile, “Welcome home.” And the door was closed with a soft click.

Five couldn’t stop the tears that welled in his eyes, some falling down his cheeks, as he processed those words.

_Welcome home._

“I’m home.” He whispered to himself.

A grin spread itself across his cheeks as he closed his eyes and let the tears fall down freely. “I’m _home_.”

And for the first time in his life, the tears weren’t from sorrow or pain, but from hope and relief.

He laughed and spun around his room, landing on his bed. He took a fistful of his covers, put them to his nose and inhaled the nostalgic scent of flowers, that Grace washed their clothes and covers with. Letting go of them, he pumped his fists in the air and grinned victoriously. “Fuck you, apocalypse!”

Sitting up made freeze up as he completely forgot about his wound in the moment. A string of curses left his lips at the sudden spike of pain. But as much as it hurt, it was nothing compared to the pain of some injuries back in the apocalypse.

With that thought, he carefully stood up and walked over to his closet. Opening it and picking out a uniform, he noted, that despite being three years older, he seemed to have not grown much. Actually putting it on proved that he was indeed correct, the uniform fit him perfectly- well, maybe it was a tad too wide. Which was no surprise, really. Living in a post-apocalyptic wasteland was one hell of a diet.

Stepping into his old shoes felt both literally as well as figurately. As if he was stepping back into a role.

His calloused hands ran over the smooth surface of his blazer, few crinkles in the fabric disappearing underneath his touch. Being back in his old uniform made him feel more like his old self in a way. It was comforting.

He straightened his tie with a determined expression. He was going to fix everything. He won’t let the world end in ashes. And he most definitely won’t let his siblings end up ~~dead~~ the way they did.

A tentative knock on his door guided him away from his thoughts.

“Five?” The meek voice of his sister reached his ears. “Can I come in?”

“Sure.”

There was a sound of slight struggle on the other side of the door and Five briefly wondered if he should somehow help, but then Vanya opened the door, her hands carefully carrying Five’s apocalyptic clothing.

Her face lit up when she saw Five in his old uniform, frowning slightly afterwards at the way his clothes enveloped him. She didn’t point it out.

Unexpected glee and relief overtook him at the mere sight of his sister. _In his defense, he thought he’d never see her again for two whole years._

With the unforeseen emotions, he grinned and gently grasped her by her arms. He spun her with a laugh and surprising them both, a puff of laughter left her lips as well at the unexpectedness of it all.

After stopping, Five took his clothes from Vanya’s awaiting hands and set them down on his ruffled bed. “Thanks.”

“No problem.”

Five slowly walked towards his slightly open door, beckoning his siter to follow.

Stepping out of his bedroom, his eyebrow quirked at his two brothers, a smirk tugging at his lips. “Are we interrupting something?”

Numbers Four and Six were still standing by the staircase, Ben’s eyes red and puffy as he dabbed at them with his sleeve. Klaus was smiling and gently patting him on the back, seemingly comforting him.

Ben let out a breathless laugh and shook his head. “No no no, nothing.”

“Nope!” Klaus spoke at the same time, his lips popping with the p.

“Alright.” Five slowly sauntered over to them.

“Ready to-” Klaus looked at him, but then did a double-take, “Shit, Five! You’re literally swimming in those clothes!”

Five’s expression hardened, his mental walls coming up. “No, I’m not.” He snapped.

It was a weak defense, but he knew Klaus was right, his uniform was too big on him. Not enough to be uncomfortable, but apparently enough to be noticeable.

Ben met his eyes with a concerned gaze, an unspoken question hanging in the air.

_What happened?_

And how the hell should he answer that? _Well, that’s because of the many times I’ve almost starved to death in a post-apocalyptic world, where I’ve lived for the past three years. Oh, did I not tell you about that either?_ Basically, it was just a recipe for disaster. So, he forced his eyes away from Ben’s, ignoring the guilt of leaving his brother’s question unanswered.

Once again, his siblings were just worried. And he _knew_ that. But they didn’t need to worry about this. It was _nothing_.

Five sighed. He couldn’t stay mad at his siblings forever. Especially not since the relief of seeing his family alive was overpowering any other emotion.

“Don’t worry about it.”

Klaus gave him a bewildered look as Five passed him and patted him twice on the shoulder, moving towards the stairs. He grabbed the handrail with both hands and stepped one step down, stopping with a chuckle at the sudden chorus of chaos and panic behind him.

“Five! Mom said you shouldn’t move around so much!”

“What the hell are you doing?!”

“Five, wait!”

Vanya surprisingly got to him first, despite being the furthest away. Her arms outstretched, in case of a fall. “Five, please-“ He took another unsteady step. This time both of his brothers ran over, Ben being the one to take the bold action of grabbing Five’s arm. “Five, please just ignore your enormous ego for a second and let us help you.”

“Please.” He added.

Vanya nodded frantically beside him.

Five looked at each of their concerned faces, wondering if he should deliberately be an asshole or not. He sighed again for an umpteenth time that day, and let go of the railing, distancing himself away from it. He let his two brothers manhandle him back into the two-person drag position.

“Did you _want_ to crack your skull after your inevitable fall?” Klaus grumbled.

“Why yes, that was my exact intention. How did you know?” Five rolled his eyes, sarcasm clearly still intact. And yet, a smile was threating to come up to his lips. He missed this silly banter between him and his siblings.

He never knew such a simple thing could be missed.

“Oh, I don’t know, maybe it was when you decided to _go down the stairs on your own_.” Klaus shot back.

“With a massive injury, might I add.” Ben joined in.

Five sputtered “Wh- Hey! I-“

“Don’t deny it.” Vanya walked up beside them and smirked.

Five gaped at his sister with silent betrayal as Klaus and Ben laughed, Klaus cheering her on.

They continued talking and bickering and before Five knew it, they were in the kitchen.

Everyone was already there, and the awkwardness could be felt a mile away. No surprise there. Numbers One, Two and Three were ironically never a good trio. Even having Grace there has seemingly not helped much. But with the last four members entering the room, the mood shifted into something a bit more pleasant.

Five convinced his brothers to let go of him right before entering the room, wanting to keep whatever was left of his dignity.

Luther coughed into his closed fist awkwardly and glanced at them. “Uh, hey.” For once, Diego understood his brother’s awkwardness.

“Hey.” Five said, the three siblings behind him greeting in their own ways as well.

The four of them sat down at the table and Grace swiftly left to serve each of them their dish. Five could see all of his siblings eyeing him, various different looks on each of their faces. But at the moment, Five couldn’t care less. Because the steam from the _warm food_ in front of him was tickling his face, the rich smell enchanting him.

They were having chicken with potatoes and salad. It was one of the simplest meals anyone could think of, but Five felt like crying at the beauty of it. He hadn’t had a warm meal in _years_ , or a full meal like this in _months_. Last time he let himself have a bigger meal than usual was when he and Delores were celebrating Christmas. That was approximately six months ago.

Some distant part of him wondered, if this much food will only make him sick. That part was stifled by the quickly growing emptiness of his stomach.

He picked up the chicken leg greedily with his hands, table manners completely forgotten, and bit off a small portion and chewed slowly, rolling the food over in his mouth. His eyes closed with pure bliss.

Five had missed food. _And he would never take it for granted ever again._

He swallowed and opened his eyes, only to see several faces of confusion, concern and amusement staring him down. The haven’t even touched their food yet. Embarrassment quickly overtook the previous emotion, his cheeks burning red. He coughed awkwardly, similarly to the way Luther did earlier, and tried to put on an unimpressed expression. “What? Are you waiting for my permission to eat or something?”

Vanya and Ben took the hint and dug into their own plates. Klaus and Luther continued to stare at him a second later, before following suit. Diego and Allison both scowled and objected, their egos way too big for their own goods, and ate their lunch.

It was kind of funny, how there were always two with the same or similar reactions.

Five took another small bite of his chicken and picked up a piece of salad.

But right as he bit into it, his face turned as pale as paper.

He abruptly leaned over the side of his chair and heaved out everything he just ate. The panicky shouting and the scraping of chairs against the floor erupted behind him.

_What a waste of food._

* * *

Five spent a long few hours resting in bed, a bucket always by his bedside, even though the emptiness of his stomach proved its uselessness.

By the early evening, he was finally feeling better and had the strength to get out of his comfortable, but boring prison.

As much as his stomach growled and groaned, his lunch fiasco made him immediately decline dinner.

Currently, he was back in his room, rummaging through his old clothes.

Pulling an object wrapped in a cloth from his jacket’s pocket, he carefully pulled the cloth away, looking the glass eye over. A sigh of relief left him. The eye was undamaged. He wrapped it back up and put it under a pile of clothes in one of his drawers.

Moving to the other pocket, he searched for the second most important thing. _The book._ Thankfully, it was the first thing his fingertips brushed over. The sight of his sister’s dusty face greeted him as he pulled it out. Turning it over, he looked at the adult version of his sister. _Would she turn out the same with him here?_ He checked it over for any damage, flipping through pages, through thousands of equations. His hand stopped at one page. The page with the last equation. With the _correct_ equation. It was written on one of the pages in the fifth chapter.

That was his chapter, ironically enough.

He closed the book and hid it in his bedside table. And then he stood there, either lost in his thoughts or just mindlessly staring at the wall. What broke him out of his trance was the sound of a violin. A beautiful song carrying through the long corridors of the mansion.

He managed to walk over to his sister’s room and leaned on the doorway, simply watching her play. She noticed his presence, looking over at him, she smiled and continued to play.

He had spent the rest of the evening in Vanya’s room, listening to her practice. The beautiful notes flowing through the air like leaves flowing in the wind. _Another thing Five had dearly missed._ Vanya always glanced at him with a grimace, when she messed up a note, but Five let her know he didn’t mind at all. Multiple times. The sound of a violin was calming to him. It felt like a reminder. A reminder that he’s somewhere safe.

At some point, Ben wondered in, sitting down beside Five on Vanya’s tiny bed.

It was a calm moment between the three of them. Each one simply enjoying the other’s company.

_If only Reginald didn’t have to come back tomorrow._

The moment was interrupted by Grace walking in and reminding them about their curfew.

The three siblings exchanged goodnights and the two brothers went their separate ways.

Grace helped Five up to his room and wished him goodnight.

Just as he changed into his pajamas, there was a knock on his door.

“Come in.”

Five’s eyebrows raised in surprise when he saw Allison open the door. She was in her own pajamas too, looking slightly uncomfortable. “Hey,” Five was about to respond, but Allison spoke quickly and extended her arm out, handing him something, “you will probably need this at training tomorrow. You can borrow it, until you get you own.”

Five confusedly took the unknown item from her hand and inspected it.

It was a _hairband_.

Honestly, Five didn’t know what to say. He didn’t expect any of it. Especially not from _Allison_. They weren’t really close, so it was unusual for her to come to him like this.

“Thanks.” He settled on simply saying.

Come to think of it, he used a hairband _once_. When his hair was falling into his face and seriously pissing him off. It was a shitty one. He only had it on for two hours and it snapped, hitting him right in the face. This seemed to be a sturdy one though.

Allison gained a bit of her confidence back as she said, “You’re welcome.”

She turned to leave, but halted at the door, turning back around to face him. “By the way, breakfast is at seven and training starts at eight. I don’t know what dad will want to do with you, but you should know, just in case.” With that, she hurriedly scurried out of his room and slammed the door behind herself.

Five looked dazedly down at the hairband in his hands and thought about what just happened.

_Did that just happen? Did Allison believe him, and thought he might’ve forgot the routine after three years?_

She was right, he had. Even though his body automatically always woke up at six every day, he completely forgot at what time was breakfast, much less _training_.

But as she said, Reginald could do anything with Five, there was no telling what.

_Would he interrogate Five on where he was and what he saw in the future? Would he ignore everything and act as if nothing happened? Would Five get punished for leaving?_

Five didn’t care. Right now, his siblings were his only priority. Whatever happened to him along the way, didn’t matter. He had to get them somewhere safe. Somewhere away. Away from Reginald and his stupid teachings. Away from the Umbrella Academy life.

Away from the apocalypse.

 _You know very well that that’s impossible at the moment._ A familiar smooth voice pointed out.

He groaned. “ _Yes_ , I _know_ that, Dolo-“ He cut himself off.

_Dolores._

She- wasn’t here right now.

How- he-

_He left her behind._

The sickening realization made him sway on his feet, his vision turning blurry.

_She was all alone out there._

He sat down on the bed a put his head in his hands.

_He’ll never see her again. Maybe in seventeen years, if he was lucky enough._

_Maybe._

He let out a shaky breath, managing to pull himself together by a thread.

He put the hairband on his nightstand and laid down oh his bed. He didn’t bother with the covers, reaching out and switching off his light.

He stared ahead into nothingness, dangerous thoughts still swirling in his mind

But a single thought was louder than all of them.

_He left her behind._

After four hours, his body passed out from exhaustion.

**And the land of terrors welcomed him once more.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Me at the editing stage of this chapter, looking at the normal ending:** ok, but how about _angst_?  
> I _swear_ , we're gonna get to the other siblings eventually. I actually included Allison this time! What do you mean _what about Luther and Diego_?  
> jk they'll get to have their own talks with Five soon enough  
> Anyways, I love sibling banter.


	5. in some eyes, everyone's an asshole

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Diego comes to the most obvious realization.**   
>  **_Their father is an asshole._ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quite a bit of swearing in this one! Just 'cause Diego is a rude angry boy.  
> And also, making these interactions was much harder, than I thought.  
> That's all I'm going to say, hope you enjoy this one!!

Diego was rudely woken up by the sound of his asshole father returning from his ‘ _meeting_ ’ ( _Whatever the hell_ that _even meant._ ) at _four in the fucking morning_. He found himself resisting the urge to punch a hole in the wall.

Not a wink of sleep greeted him for the next two hours, the next two _stupid_ hours of restless tossing and turning around in his bedsheets. Eventually, his mattress received a kick out of sheer frustration.

Someone’s groan sounded through the thin walls of the academy. Presumably Klaus’, since his room was right next to Diego’s, but he couldn’t be sure. He hit his mattress again, wanting to distinguish the voice, or maybe just to piss the sibling off. “Stop that, y’ prick!” Sure enough, Klaus’ hushed and slurred voice cut through the silence of the morning again. He sounded irritated and Diego had at least some decency to feel bad for waking him up. Klaus had already enough trouble sleeping as it was.

Just one more hour untill breakfast.

He sighed and rolled over, his head facing the bedroom.

The last two weeks have been… _hectic_ , to say the least. First their brother went missing, and _then_ after two weeks, the same brother fell out of a portal right back into their lives, bleeding out and _older_ , apparently.

All of them changed in some way over the course of those two weeks.

Number One’s demeanor had changed. It was a punch to the gut for all of them when Reginald didn’t care at all about Five’s disappearance, but _especially_ for Luther. Diego didn’t know what went through his brother’s head, but it was quite noticeable as he became less obsessed with their father.

It was an improvement in Diego’s eyes.

Number Four had been smoking less and less, probably because of the constant search missions for their brother. Either he simply didn’t have time, or they kept his mind off the drugs. He seemed pretty worried when the fact that Five might not come back became a serious thing. Numbers Four, Five, Six and Seven were always a set, a weird one at best, but they always seemed closest out of the siblings. How did they put up with each other? Diego honestly had no idea.

Number Three had, _surprisingly_ , changed as well. She tuned down her cockiness and actually started considering someone else’s ideas. Seeing her listen to someone else than Luther was a strange phenomenon, but a good one none the less. Her and Vanya also had suddenly grew a bit closer.

Diego had no clue what was up with that.

The muffled sound of a bed creaking broke him out of his thoughts. _Was Klaus getting up?_ Diego glanced at the clock.

Oh.

He had been spaced out for three quarters of an hour now.

_Great._

Getting up, he walked over to his closet and changed from the blue striped pajamas they all shared. By the time he was done, Grace was already ringing the bell, signaling the start of breakfast. He sprinted out of him room and arrived in the dining room just as Five stepped behind his chair. Diego came in last, but thankfully sooner than his father.

He walked over to his own spot at the table and looked down on his plate. Eggs and ham. A simple breakfast, yet delicious.

Everything made by Grace was delicious.

Their mother put on the all too familiar record about mountaineering and Diego swore that he’d never do anything to do with mountaineering in his life. _Ever._

Just then, Reginald waltzed into the room, the atmosphere getting thick with sudden tension.

“Sit!”

Mechanically, they all sat down and began eating. Diego idly glanced at Reginald and each of his siblings.

Luther was sneaking quick glances at their father, probably waiting for a reaction about Five’s return. Their father’s emotionless gaze remained focused on his food as he ate, seemingly without a care in the world.

Unsuspiciously glancing over to his right, Diego shoved a forkful of eggs in his mouth and looked his long-haired _(Seriously, the hair was weird as_ fuck _.)_ brother over.

Five was cutting off a piece of his eggs and staring into his food with his brows furrowed. Diego couldn’t tell if he was just distrustful of food after yesterday, or if he was just deep in thought.

It was still surreal seeing him.

Sure, it’s only been like two weeks, but in his defense, he thought he wouldn’t see Five ever again. A part of him thought their brother had bailed on them. Ran off alone and left them all behind to rot in this hellhole of a house.

And Five was also apparently older, which Diego decided to ignore entirely.

Everyone finished their meal, _some less reluctantly than others_ , and Reginald raised his voice.

“This morning’s lesson will proceed in the library, Pogo will escort all of you there.” His cold eyes flickered over at Five, “Number Five, you are excluded from today’s lesson and will meet me in my office.”

Diego swore he saw Five tense up at their father’s voice. He honestly couldn’t blame him.

Reginald stood up, “You are hereby excused.” And left the room.

Just as he did, Pogo appeared in the doorway, “Let’s go, children. We will stop by your rooms to collect the supplies needed for today’s lesson.” He then turned to Five, expression turning apologetic. “Number Five, I advise you not to keep your father waiting.”

Five sighed and swore under his breath, proceeding to stand up and walk away from the table.

Diego felt sort of sorry for the guy. Their father wanting to see one of them in his office privately was never a good sign. And Five being the rebellious bastard that he was? That would not end well.

Pogo reminded them once more of their lesson and all of them got up and followed the chimpanzee out of the room.

And just as Pogo said, they stopped by their rooms to get each of their supplies. They had a history lesson this morning. And if Allison was planning on being an annoying know-it-all again, then Diego would seriously lose it.

* * *

With a dull _thunk_ , another knife embedded itself in the bull’s eye of his dartboard.

Diego threw his head back into his mattress and let out an annoyed groan. He was supposed to be working on his studies right now like the rest of his siblings, but he couldn’t help but be distracted.

Five hadn’t come out of Reginald’s office yet.

Diego had checked. He had conveniently chosen a route to back his room that led him around his father’s office.

The muffled sound of Reginald’s voice boomed through the silence, with the occasional sound of Five’s defiant voice.

It wasn’t as if he was worried about Five, that was _ridiculous_ , he simply wanted to know what their father said. Yes, that was the reason.

_Definitely._

Thankfully for him, something interrupted his internal convincing. A sound that would be nearly impossible for an average person to hear.

The quietest creak of a floorboard.

Diego stood up and peeked out of his bedroom. And there he was, the culprit himself, currently glaring at the floor beneath his feet as if it had personally offended him.

“Thought you would’ve remembered that floorboard by now.”

Five’s head snapped in his direction and he narrowed his eyes.

“I _do_.”

Diego smirked, “Well, it sure doesn’t seem like it.”

His brother huffed in annoyance and turned to walk away.

Diego suddenly jerked out of his stance in his bedroom door and walked up to him, stopping him in his tracks. “Hey, what did he have to say?”

“Who? Dad?” Five raised an eyebrow, puzzled, but then realized what Diego was saying and flashed a familiar shark-like smile. “ _Well_ , he took his sweet time lecturing me about my life failures, and then interrogated me where I was and what I saw.” He shrugged, “You know, same old, same old.”

There was a brief pause, before Diego spoke up in amusement.

“You didn’t tell him shit, did you?”

“I didn’t tell him shit.”

They exchanged knowing smirks and Five continued. “So as usual, the old man got mad,” he cleared his throat and raised his voice in pitch, “ _I suppose that if you have recovered enough to be back to your normal self, then there will be no problem resuming your training the first thing tomorrow_.”

Diego would have laughed at the poor impression of their father, if it weren’t for the context of the sentence.

“ _What?_ ”

“Once an asshole, always an asshole.”

“Wait no, he wants you to _train_?” Diego bit out in a disbelieving tone.

“It’s really none of your concern, Diego.”

His eyebrows shot up in bewilderment. “ _None of my concern_ \- Five, you- you literally got stitched up two days ago!”

Five opened his mouth to retort, but Diego cut him off. “I could nudge you and would probably ri-rip your stitches open and he _wants-_ he wants you to _train_?”

_What the hell was Reginald thinking?_

Five shrugged nonchalantly, “Guess so.”

Diego looked at his brother, not believing how he was being so calm about this. All six of the siblings hated their individual training sessions.

_Including_ Five.

And now he was acting like it didn’t bother him?

Diego locked eyes with his brother’s as he tried to understand his reasoning. Silence stretched on and he noticed how fucking _tired_ Five looked. He looked like he really didn’t want to have this conversation, his bored expression painting him in a disturbing image of vacancy.

Five looked like the definition of exhaustion.

And so, just this once, Diego listened to his brother’s unspoken request and let the subject go.

_Just this once._

He looked back in the direction of his room, sighing. “Fuckin’ asshole.”

“Yeah.”

He considered asking if Five needed help to get up the stairs, but then thought better of it.

A cooing noise interrupted the comfortable silence between the two. “Aww, you guys are so awkward.”

Diego whipped around to stare at Klaus peeking from his room. He sneered and pointed a finger threateningly in his direction, “I _swear_ , Klaus, if you tell-“

Klaus cut him, making a zipping motion over his mouth, “Don’t worry, all your dirty little secrets are safe with little ol’ me!” a cat-like grin spread over his face.

Diego face twisted in confusion, slowly morphing into a horrified expression.

His brother waved him off and popped back into his bedroom, cackling like a maniac once inside.

The knife-wielder turned back around, only to come face to face with an empty space in front of him.

“Dammit.”

He walked back to his room, leaving the spot by the staircase entirely empty.

**_God, his brothers were stupid._ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _See?_ I _told_ you we'd get to the other siblings!! And we got some plot as well! How lovely is that?  
> By the way, sorry, if Five is sometimes a bit too ooc!!  
> Anyway, that is all!^^  
> I very much hope you enjoyed!!


	6. stuck between the dead and living

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Two boys in blue pajamas, both traumatized by the ghosts of the dead.**   
>  **They share a moment or two.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One month later and here I am! And we're getting into the real plot of the story! Finally!  
> I won't spoil it for y'all though, so, without further ado, here goes the story...

The darkness swallowed everything in its path. It always had and always will.

Wide green eyes followed every step of the morphing shadows as they danced across the room. Their movements horrifying yet mesmerizing all the same.

The silence stifled all sound. Quiet breathing and a rapid heartbeat being the only two sounds remaining.

It always got worse when the shadows took form. When they weren’t just mindless globs.

They liked to turn into corpses.

The boy squeezed his eyes shut, praying for the shadows to go away, but the back of his eyelids only greeted him with the ever-present images of his nightmares.

He had hoped to sleep the whole night through tonight. Maybe to build up energy, or to finally get some rest. But the nightmares plagued him the same way as all the days before.

It was always the same. He would dream of a lifeless wasteland, and then the corpses would start talking.

Five opened his eyes and faced tonight’s horrors of the darkness.

There were three today.

The first one was right next to his bed. A teenage girl, possibly no older than fifteen. He wracked his memory to remember where he’s seen this girl before. He couldn’t remember.

Not yet anyway.

The second one, a man, stood next to the closet, his arm awfully mangled. Five remembered, he found his body in a car with a child next to him. Perhaps it was a family road trip.

The third, and last one, laid in front of his bed.

Five made no move to investigate further.

His lost gaze settled on the window, the faintest light of the night seeping through. He couldn’t tell the time by the sky even if he tried. After all, there _was_ no sky to see for the past few years. _Only clouds made of pure pollution._

The silence was suffocating. Back then and even now.

But sometimes, the quiet made every little sound easier to hear.

Hence the reason why Five was able to hear the faintest _thump_ from one of the floors below. The sound was followed by muffled voices and footsteps.

_Robbers?_

Unlikely. Reginald was far too paranoid to let anyone in. Especially someone who wanted to steal something.

_One of his siblings?_

A bigger possibility.

Five sighed and briefly considered trying to go back to sleep, but that train of thought was stopped immediately as another quiet sound rang out.

It was a whimper.

He slowly sat up, the shadow hallucinations in the room wavering with his sudden focus.

A sob.

His blanket got pushed away, nearly falling off the bed, as he slid off the bed. He ignored the way the man in the corner turned to look at him.

The girl’s shadow was directly in the path to the door.

Pressing his lips into a thin line, he tiptoed around the body. _An irrational action._ His body would just pass right through the illusion even if he did touch it. It was just a trick of light after all.

 _What the hell was he doing?_ A part of him wondered.

There was a crying sibling somewhere downstairs and what would _he_ do with that situation? _Comfort them?_ He scoffed softly at the thought. _Right, like that would go well._

Finally reaching the doorway, he turned around. _Should_ he go examine the noise? All it could bring him was just an awkward midnight encounter with possibly one of his siblings.

Suddenly, he froze.

The body in front of the bed was visible from this angle.

_…_

Figuring out who was downstairs would be better than staying in this room.

* * *

As he stalked down the stairs, the sight of their father and Number Four greeted him. Reginald had his brother in a firm hold as he forcefully guided him to the entrance hall.

_Where-_

Oh.

Oh _shit._

He’d completely forgotten about that.

Well, not exactly _forgot_ , but it slipped his mind amidst all the other chaos.

Silently following them as they left the house, he was unfortunately proved correct. They were going to the graveyard.

Klaus’ special training.

The mausoleum.

_Dammit._

He thought the old bastard stopped taking Klaus there after the boy began taking drugs to solve his problems.

Apparently not.

Klaus let out a pitiful little whine and Five reminded himself to keep hidden from the sight of their father.

As soon as Reginald reached his destination, he opened the old, rusty doors and threw Number Four inside. Klaus’ desperate begging reached Five’s ears.

“No, no, _no_ \- please-“

“Silence!” Reginald barked. “I will be back to check on your progress in two hours.”

“ _No_ \- No, dad, _please_ I-“ The terrified voice of his brother got muted as the heavy doors of the mausoleum closed.

Five ducked behind a wall just in time to briefly see the old man leave. He bristled, his hatred for the man managing to increase even further.

Once he was sure his father was gone, he scurried over to his brother’s stone prison. His eyes quickly scanned over the closed entryway, his fists clenching and unclenching by his sides. The mere thought of using his powers terrified him to his core. He hasn’t used them in _so long_.

 _What if he messed up again? What if he accidentally time-traveled again? What if he would end up back_ there _?_

The sound of Klaus’ muffled cries was like a burst of pure adrenaline in that moment. _It didn’t matter._ His own fears didn’t matter, because his brother desperately needed someone to be with him right now. And Five would rather give his left arm than let his brother suffer through their father’s torture alone.

He closed his eyes, breathed in deeply and searched for that painfully familiar tug of his powers. The air around his closed fists fizzled and bent, creating its usual vibrant blue glow. Five shakily exhaled, scrunched up his face in concentration and _jumped_.

* * *

The sudden drop of temperature made his breath hitch.

He opened his eyes hesitantly and almost wanted to laugh with the utmost relief at seeing the stone walls of the mausoleum instead of burning rubble. The relief had come to a halt when his eyes landed on his brother huddled up in a corner, murmuring and shivering like crazy.

In two quick strides, Five was already lowering himself beside Klaus.

“Klaus?” He tried to meet his eyes, “Hey, _Klaus_. It’s me, Five.”

Klaus’ eyes focused on him and widened, terror and grief filling them along with fresh tears.

He covered his face, his voice wavering, “I’m sorry- God, I’m so sorry…Please, just-“

Five frowned and grasped Klaus’ arms, gently pulling them away from his tear-stained face.

“Hey, it’s-” He waited for his brother’s sudden apologies to subside before repeating, “Whatever it is you’re apologizing for, it’s _okay_.”

Klaus zeroed on Five’s hands encircling his wrists. “Oh.” Unexpectedly, a small, shaky smile formed on his face as he wiped at his cheeks with the light blue sleeve of their sleepwear. “Sorry, I just thought…”

The unsaid words rung in Five’s head.

_I thought you were dead._

“Hm.” Five moved to sit by his brother and quietly joked, “Well, I think we had more than enough apologies for today.”

Number Four chuckled and leaned his shivering form against Five, seeking much needed warmth.

For a few seconds, only the quiet sound of their breathing occupied the dark room.

Except that it wasn’t the same way for Klaus.

Five realized this fact when he felt the other boy flinch at something. He wondered how to help, before awkwardly putting his arm around Klaus’ shoulder and pulling him closer.

A long time ago, Klaus told him that in situations like these, contact really helped to anchor him back to the living world. And as strange as it sounded back then, Five finally understood what he meant.

And Klaus, not knowing when to keep his mouth shut, blurted out, “You’re just a big softie on the inside, aren’t you?”

Five felt his defenses come up and scowled, “Well, looks like you’re a dumbass through and through.”

“Ha! That wasn’t a no!”

He sputtered, “Fuck off.”

Number Four laughed and Five fought the urge to smile.

The tomb fell into a comfortable silence. And Five could feel his eyelids sliding shut as he enjoyed the peaceful moment.

Of course, life didn’t like to give that luxury for very long. The moment was instantly shattered by his mind deciding to remember where he found the corpse of that shadow from this morning. He found her while scavenging a school. Her head was smashed in by one of the lockers.

 _Yes, he had_ surely _wanted to remember that._

Unluckily, his inner sarcastic comment didn’t manage to stop the other unwelcome reminders from invading his thoughts. Specifically, the body lying in front of his bed. The one he only caught a glimpse of. _Not like he wanted to look at it longer than he had to._ He shuddered and opened his eyes.

The hallucination stuck with him, whether he liked it or not. How she just had laid there, her ash-covered arm outstretched, as if reaching out. She stared at him with glazed, empty eyes. An ironically similar aspect to her own power.

It was Allison’s corpse.

Or well, _adult_ Allison’s.

The image of her lying in front of his bed like that was drilled into his mind by now.

Out of the corner of his eye he caught Klaus looking at him.

“What?”

“Nothing! Nothing, just feeling a bit nostalgic.” Klaus grinned.

Five hummed, “I suppose it kind of is.”

_How long was it for Klaus since the last time they did this? Would it be inappropriate to ask? After all, it was his personal training. Probably not a lot of good--_

Klaus spoke up again, rudely, but unknowingly interrupting his thoughts.

“Can you still do that thing? That, uh,” He waved his hands around, gesturing wildly, before trailing off, looking at something in the corner of the room. He stayed quiet for a few seconds and Five patiently waited for him to get back to his train of thought. Klaus took in a breath and turned back to look at him again. Getting back on track, he patted him on the arm, “That thing your power does.”

“The glow?”

Klaus snapped his fingertips, “Yes! That!”

Five thought about it for a second. He shrugged one-sidedly. “I could try. Haven’t done it in a long time, but it’s worth a shot.”

He balled his hands into fists and concentrated. Fabric brushed against fabric as Klaus shifted beside him and soon enough, space began swirling around Five’s hands, the iconic blue light illuminating the brothers’ corner.

“There. Now what?”

The grow reflected itself in Klaus’ eyes as he stared at it thoughtfully. “Dunno. I just always thought it was kind of relaxing to look at.”

Five grimaced, “Am I really doing this for that sole reason?”

“Yup.”

He sighed.

Minutes ticked by, Klaus unconsciously inching closer and closer to the light source. Five gently nudged his brother when he was getting too close and sighed again.

_He felt like a nightlight._

A loud bark of laughter startled him from his tired demeanor.

“ _What_?” his brother looked at him with an amused expression.

“What?” Five dumbly repeated.

“Did you say you feel like a _nightlight_?”

_Did he say that out loud?_

“No.” he blurted out.

Klaus snickered, “Oh, I’m pretty sure you did.”

“I did _not_.”

“Did too!”

“Did _not_.”

“Did. _Too_.”

Just as Five was going to retort back, a puff of dust flew by his nose, making him pause abruptly. He sneezed and the room was once again enveloped in darkness.

Both of them froze. Klaus, the first one to break out of his surprise, let out a burst of laughter.

Five laughed as well.

* * *

_Thud!_

“Get up, boy!”

Luther once declared that training was merely tiring, which was a _big_ understatement in Five’s opinion.

He got up from the cold floor, the pain from his old wound lingering.

It was _exhausting_ and often painful. For all of them.

“Again!”

Although Luther was probably just trying to ~~reassure~~ impress them, Five didn’t miss the way he would come all sore and sweaty from his own training.

He jumped to the top of the staircase again. He had been doing that for a while now. _How many times will the old man make him do the same thing over and over?_ A lot of times apparently.

Reginald picked him off for training right after breakfast, took him to one of the ‘training staircases' and had Five jump from the bottom to the very top repeatedly.

This was his eighth- maybe ninth jump so far. It was less than he used to do in the past and yet, he was already struggling to catch his breath.

“I don’t have all day, Number Five!” Reginald’s stupid comments got annoying _really_ quick.

He took a deep breath and jumped back down.

The churring of his stomach was the only warning he got about what was to come. A hand flew over his mouth as he desperately struggled to keep his breakfast down. _He wanted to keep at least_ some _of his dignity after all._

When his stomach finally settled again, he straightened up and met his father’s cold glare.

“That will be all for today. You will work on improving your stealth until our next session,”

Five was about to question _what the hell was he talking about_ , when Reginald suddenly turned around and pulled out his book, writing something down while continuing his lecture.

“Since this morning was a clear demonstration of your lack of skill.”

Five’s body stiffened.

_What?_

“Do that again and I will have Number Four’s training extended to eight hours.”

His mouth felt dry, his eyes burning holes into Reginald’s back, pointlessly searching for answers that weren’t there.

_He…knew?_

“You are excused.”

_He knew I was following them._

Five numbly walked away from the room, away from his father. Away from the cold dread creeping up his spine.

_Shit, he’d gotten Klaus in some deep shit._

He rounded a corner and stopped dead in his tracks. Speak of the devil. There he was, sitting on the floor with a water bottle in hand and a bucket next to him. He perked up at the sight of Five and leapt to his feet.

“There’s that grumpy face!” Klaus walked over to him. Seeing the other boy’s confusion, he continued, “Don’t give me that look! I’m just being the greatest brother ever, it’s really not a big deal.”

Before Five could say anything, Klaus proudly started showing off the items he had gathered. “We have a bottle of water from the fridge! Because hydration is important. And” he picked up the bucket, “I didn’t really know what exactly you’ll need after training, but a little birdie told me I should bring a bucket.”

At the distant sound of footsteps, Five began ushering his brother down the hallway. “That’s great, Klaus, but Dad is gonna round that corner any minute now. So we need to _go_.”

“Oh shit, you’re right.”

Together, they scurried off right before Reginald could see them.

They camped out in Five’s room.

“Quite fancy you have it here.” Klaus took a seat on the floor, rocking back and forth.

“Klaus, you have literally been here a million times already.”

“Yes.”

Five gave him a puzzled look, pausing in the middle of his struggle of opening the tightly shut bottle.

From the floor below, the calm tunes of a violin continued to fill the silence.

Apparently, it was their ten-minute ‘ _free time’_ , and Five really didn’t know how to feel about Klaus choosing to spend that time with him, when he could be doing literally anything else. It felt…nice. His thoughts however, continued to drift back to his father’s words.

_“Do that again and I will have Number Four’s training extended to eight hours.”_

He knew his father wouldn’t hesitate to do so. And if Five wasn’t careful, he would start threatening his other siblings too. His _younger_ siblings, which he felt like he had responsibility over now. If only he could just…make them _safe_.

 _Kill Reginald?_ His mind supplied unhelpfully.

Five gave the bizarre idea a thought, finally managing to wrestle the stupid cap off the bottle.

_No, too risky._

_Run away?_

That _was_ still an option, but would his siblings be willing to? Luther definitely wouldn’t, and if Luther wouldn’t then Allison wouldn’t either. But…

He looked at the boy in front of him, the same boy who yelled and cried for his father to _just let him out_ , only for all of his cries to fall on deaf ears. Just because his father couldn’t care enough.

_Fuck it._

“Klaus?”

Said boy looked away from the bucket in his lap and turned to him with a questioning look.

Five took a deep breath, and with the sincerest look he could muster, looked his brother in the eye.

**“Do you want to run away?”**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Five:** I'm bad at comforting people.  
>  **Also Five:** *comforts Klaus*  
> Ha! Little did you know, there was never a middle ground between fluff and angst!  
> I mean, it would be all fluff, but unfortunately, Reginald is, and always will be, the trauma bringer.  
> You'll probably see me circling back to the 4,5,6,7 group a lot, so i apologize in advance. ^^'  
> I very much hope you enjoyed! Next time, we'll be starting right back where we left off, so stay tuned for that!  
> And until further update, farewell!

**Author's Note:**

> Please comment, if you can! I appriciate every single one!  
> Also! If you find any grammar mistakes or typos, please do tell! English isn't my first language, so I might make some mistakes sometimes!  
> You can find me on Tumblr [@umbrella-manchild](https://umbrella-manchild.tumblr.com/) !! Come to visit sometime!  
> My original post, where I came up with this AU [HERE](https://umbrella-manchild.tumblr.com/post/634590715400372224/an-au-where-five-spends-like-3-years-in-the) !


End file.
